House prices soar 21 per cent in Balham, 'London's new leading property hotspot'

The south London suburb of Balham has overtaken exclusive enclaves such as Kensington and Holland Park to become the capital’s leading property hotspot, a survey says today.

Balham house prices rocketed by 21 per cent in 2014, adding £152,000 — or £415 a day — to the average property value in the SW12 area.

Other “villages” outside the “prime” centre, such as Brook Green and Battersea, also did well, with big double-digit rises. In contrast, prices in Kensington and Holland Park climbed eight per cent last year, according to figures from central London agents Marsh & Parsons.

“However, everyday demand for more affordable homes has catapulted Balham and other outer prime corners of the capital on to the map. Londoners are increasingly willing to compromise on a central location in return for more living space and manageable price tags and, as a result, the price growth seen in green ‘village’ suburbs has overtaken the Goliaths of London property this year.”

Balham, famously lampooned by Peter Sellers as the “Gateway to the South”, where nothing happens apart from the changing of traffic lights, has become one of London’s most in-demand districts in recent years.

Professionals unable to afford areas such as Chelsea or Fulham have flocked to neighbourhoods slightly further out but still well connected to central London and with attractive Victorian or Edwardian housing.

Meanwhile, central London’s once red-hot property market has been blighted by fears over Labour’s proposed mansion tax, the steep rises in stamp duty for properties worth more than £1 million, new restrictions on mortgage lending and the rise in the value of the pound against the euro and other currencies.

Prices dipped 2.1 per cent in central London in the last three months of 2014, the first quarterly drop for more than three years.

However, Mr Rollings said demand for property had picked up since the New Year and now expected modest price growth of three to five per cent in 2015.

He said: “While we don’t expect values to fall any further, price growth is likely to remain stable for the opening months of the year, but after the general election, activity volumes will be turned up, once political uncertainty is put to bed.”